Organic Cotton Shines Despite All Odds

Even as the world economy battled with recession, organic cotton’s production and sale was high and organic cotton industry grew up to 20 per cent to an estimated $5.61 billion in 2010, says Textile Exchange’s annual market report.

The report also says that if there is an increase in levels of commitment from brands and retailers to farming projects, as has been seen with C&A and Anvil, among others, and annual growth rates return to the 34 percent seen in 2008, retail sales of organic cotton products could grow to an estimated $6.9 billion in 2011 and $9.3 billion in 2012.

Textile Exchange also asked for the data of the usage of sustainable fibers like recycled and cellulosic fiber from the textile industry and found that the figure could not match that of organic cotton, but was decent enough to promote research and projections in future.

“Consumers continue to be committed to supporting the use of organic cotton and other sustainable fibers, while brands and retailers continue to make their product lines more sustainable by continuing to increase their use of such fibers and safer, more innovative manufacturing processes,” says LaRhea Pepper, Textile Exchange managing director.